‘Bringing a nuke to a gun fight’

BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, East Granby, Conn. -- Sept. 12, 2010, the 103rd Medical Group rose to their feet with a standing ovation in celebration of receiving a score of outstanding on their Health Services Inspection.

With a final score that approached absolute perfection, the inspection was a successful retake of last year's which yielded less than satisfactory results.

The inspection was conducted by the Air Force Inspection Agency which is independent from any other major command, allowing for a fair and unbiased assessment, said Col. Gerald Wiest, inspector with the Air Force Inspection Agency. The team inspected 41 elements with 760 criteria in the three major categories of expeditionary operations, in-garrison operations and leadership.

Of particular note, the medical group scored exceptionally well in aerospace medicine management for in-garrison operations.

"That's unheard of; take some pride in this," said Wiest, referring to the aerospace medicine score.

In addition to receiving such a high score, the inspection team presented select medical group personnel with certificates of appreciation and recognition.

A coin was presented to Senior Master Sgt. Richard Stec, a health systems specialist with the 103rd Medical Group, for his hard work and dedication in preparing for the HSI.

"It was readily apparent that over the past 15 months or so you have been one of the workhorses here and I think you deserve recognition for that," said Wiest. "So on behalf of the unit, thank you for what you've done. You've really helped pull them along."

Lt. Col. Galloway, commander, 103rd Medical Group, then presented three outstanding performance awards; one each to Staff Sgt. Jannell Vaughn, Master Sgt. Scott McIntosh and Maj. John Whitney.

The awards did not stop there, however, as Wiest presented Galloway with the official certification to operate as a medical unit.

"I am humbled to be here to hold this. It's been an honor to work this hard to get this done. I don't know if I can hold it all together, this has been a lot of work," said an emotional Galloway. "This is a great reward for all the work that everybody in this room has done and all the other people that are not here to share it with us. I know that I have a hell of a good team, both in the wing and the base as well as in my unit."

Following Galloway, Col. Frank Detorie, commander, 103rd Airlift Wing, took to the stage and said, "At the in-brief, I had the chance to address you and the team, and I said back then before any of this was in the books, I said I was [real] proud to have you all in this group as my med group--and I meant it. What these guys (the inspection team) did was just validate the reasons for that."

Detorie was not alone in his feeling. As the colonel went around base during drill weekend from retirements to promotions, he said he was struck by how many people from various organizations on base would ask him about how the HSI was going for the medical group.

Little did the base populous know how well prepared the medical group was for this HSI.

"You guys brought a nuke to a gun fight," said Maj. Gen. Thaddeus Martin, adjutant general for the state of Connecticut. In the history of the 103rd, a score of outstanding has been delivered less than five times by any unit," said Martin. This is the first HSI in the history of the med group--and the clinic before the formation of the med group--that received an outstanding, Martin said.

"The Medical group wishes to extend thanks to all the members on the base team that participated in their preparation, training and general support throughout this arduous evaluation process," said Galloway.